Mason can’t bail out Flyers in Game 5 loss

Philadelphia Flyers' Jakub Voracek, left, New York Rangers' Anton Stralman, second from left, Rangers' Marc Staal (18), second from right, and Flyers' Scott Hartnell (19) scuffle in front of the goal during the second period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series on Sunday, April 27, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK — They activated their retirement-eligible defenseman who basically hadn’t played all year and somewhat predictably, it didn’t work out.

While that couldn’t have been much of a surprise to the Flyers Sunday, what they probably didn’t bank on as this playoff series with the New York Rangers grows old and desperate was the hard truth that their young and gifted forwards still can’t find ways to keep them from taking an early retirement from the playoffs.

So Claude Giroux finally scored his first postseason goal, but by then it was essentially too late to prevent a 4-2 loss to the Rangers that puts the Flyers one loss away from an unwelcome summer convalescence.

Advertisement

Even though Steve Mason was there for this Game 5 in the Garden, the almost flawless performance he put forth two nights earlier was not. Unable to continue bailing his teammates out time and time again, then, Mason and the Flyers now face elimination ahead of Game 6 at home Tuesday night.

Don’t expect him to start bailing in other ways, however.

“This series is definitely not over,” Mason said. “We’re looking forward to getting back home and having a big game there and bringing it back here for Game 7.”

For that to happen, it likely would take an offensive epiphany. Giroux’s goal came with only 1:29 left, and with Mason on the bench for an extra skater. The goal closed the gap to 3-2 at the time, but then Brian Boyle’s empty net goal with 15 seconds left ended all nervous speculation.

Of course, falling behind at the start for the fourth straight game in the series didn’t help the Flyers’ slim-chance comeback cause, as a team only has so many resurrections in store. The Flyers pulled the comeback trick in Game 4, and had pulled out 11 victories after trailing in third periods during the regular season.

Not so this time.

“We’re playing well,” Giroux maintained. “We need to keep playing. It’s a tough building to play in here. Game 6 is going to be huge, obviously. We are not looking at it like it’s the last game of our season. We’ve come back all season long when it matters and we have to stay confident about that.”

Turning it up to 11 in another way, Giroux might want to know that the Rangers have lost 11 straight times after taking a series lead, the last one being that Game 4 Friday night.

“We have to go in there and win a game,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “We want to get it done in their building. We have to have the killer instinct to get in there and try to get a win.”

Mason, who would make a mere 18 saves, allowed a dipping shot by Staal to beat him 11:53 into the game. What made that hurt more was that the Flyers had controlled the game to that point, but had failed brutally on two early power play chances.

Making matters worse, they didn’t respond to it very well. Instead, they fell behind by three goals in the second period, after Brad Richards scored off a session of Flyers defensive zone chaos at 8:07, then Dominic Moore hopped on an ugly turnover by 39-year-old debuting defenseman Hal Gill and turned it into a 3-0 lead.

Gill, playing in his first playoff game and seventh of the entire season, was behind the play for much of the day. When he couldn’t handle an ill-advised rush pass on bad ice by Braydon Coburn, Moore jumped on it, skated in and beat Mason at the 16:20, and the Garden bloomed.

It was that kind of an ugly day for the Flyers.

“I tried to kick it up and I kicked it back,” Gill said. “One of those things. I’ve got to make that play and I didn’t. ... If you’re in the playoffs, you make a little mistake, it’ll cost you.”

That boo-boo was a bear, though even a cub defenseman without rust would have had trouble handling Coburn’s bouncing pass, too.

“Kind of went through his (skates),” Coburn said of Gill. “Probably just a bad bounce there.”

The Flyers did try to bounce back after that, as struggling Vinny Lecavalier banged a power play point shot that hit a Rangers skate and went past Henrik Lundqvist with 32.6 seconds left in the second.

That cut the lead to 3-1, but it didn’t give the Flyers much of a boost into the third period. Instead, the Rangers controlled much of the play until coach Craig Berube switched Scott Hartnell off Giroux’s line and replaced him with Brayden Schenn.

While seemingly overdue, that move met with mixed results. But then Berube pulled Mason with just under three minutes left, leading the way to a Giroux goal.

It wouldn’t be a path to sudden victory, however.

Now all Rangers roads to the second round go through South Philadelphia. Any return detour to New York would only come if the Flyers can stir up some offensive dust and create some traffic in front of Lundqvist. A more consistent stretch of captainly clarity might help that effort.

“I’m aware that I have to play better,” Giroux said. “I want to play better. It will happen. Game 6 is going to be at Wells Fargo and we’re a little frustrated now, but we’ll get jacked back up again in front of our fans. They always give us a little boost.”